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B. On-site
inspections have been conducted as part of the proceedings:
1. The
requested preliminary inquiry, at p. 149, conducted on May 21 at the
following places:
a. The
home of Gregorio Ipurre Ramos, in Cayara, which had been burned to the ground.
b. The
home of Lucía Tello, in Cayara, which was also the home of Dionisio Suárez
Palomino, where the door had been broken down and the interior burned; the
flames had gone as high as the ceiling, where the beams had been burned; damage
was estimated at I/40,000.
c. The
store of Primitiva Cabrera de Palomino, located in Cayara, which had been
ransacked by soldiers on May 14; the stolen goods were valued at I/20,000.
d. The
store of Modesto García Pariona, located in Cayara, which had been looted by
soldiers on May 14, for an estimated loss of I/50,000.
The door was also broken as were the glass cases; electrical devices had
been stolen. Total value of goods
destroyed or stolen estimated at I/30,000.
e. The
home of Teodosio Torres Tinco, in Cayara, the door of which had been damaged by
army troops who stole Articles valued at I/30,000.
f. The
store of Catalina de la Cruz, in Cayara, where army soldiers stole Articles
valued at I/40,000.
g. The
store belonging to Paulina Suárez Bautista, in Cayara, where army troops had
broken down the doors and stolen money and Articles valued at I/2,000.
The inquiry was suspended at 9:00 p.m., to be resumed on May 26 at
2:00 p.m.
h. At
the Cayara health clinic, where witness Agapito Tinco Noa was present;
everything was already in order, but it was reported that on May 14,
everything was in disarray, having been torn apart by the soldiers.
i. The
building housing the Cayara Town Council, where everything had been recently
repaired and painted, though there were still signs that a door had been forced
open.
j. The
home of Apolonio Huamaní, in Cayara, where the door had been broken and
everything was thrown about.
k. The
Cayara Education Center, where it was established that five aluminum pots that
the soldiers had been using were missing.
l. The
store of Enedina García Pariona, in Cayara, the door of which had been forced
open, ripping off the latches and hinges; those latches and hinges were turned
over as the corpus delicti; army soldiers were said to have stolen articles and
electrical devices valued at I/15,000.
l(a) The home of
Professor Emiliano Aquino Paico, in Cayara, the door of which had been forced
open.
2. The
inquiry requested at p. 215 and ordered at p. 216, the record of which appears
at p. 217; conducted along the bridle path from Cayara to Ccachuaypampa, on June
11 (1988). Also participating in
that inquiry was Mrs. Teodora Apari Marcatoma de Palomino; in Ccachuaypampa, she
pointed out the place where on May 14 military troops had told the women
and children to sit down; where they made the men lie face down; the grove from
which the soldiers had cut the cactus leaves that they put on the men's backs
and where evidence of recent cuttings was found; the molle tree alongside
which the soldiers told the men of Cayara to get down, whereupon they killed
them with axes, machetes, sickles or knives, or simply beat them to death with a
hammer; she also pointed to the lower portion of the molle tree in
question where she said soldiers killed her husband Aurelio Palomino Ccheccún;
the witnesses said she took bloodstained stones from the spot, which were set
apart to be examined by experts; bloodstained grass was also collected to be
sent to the laboratory. Photographs
were taken to illustrate this proceeding. Returning
to Cayara via the bridle path, bloodstained stones were picked up, as were
strands of human hair tangled in ambrancay plants some 90 centimeters off
the ground; they, too, were to be sent to the laboratory to be studied by
experts.
C. Bodies
were exhumed:
1. Exhumation
proceeding thwarted in Huancapi on May 21, 1988, by an officer who
identified himself by the pseudonym of "Major Yauyos"; through a
resolution, at p. 121, an exhumation was ordered conducted in Cayara and
Ccechua; it was obstructed, as the record shows at p. 123.
2. An
exhumation ordered through a resolution, as recorded at p. 138, and
conducted on May 27, 1988, as recorded at p. 139.
The first of the graves at Ccachuaypampa was opened, where relatives had
buried the bodies of Teodosio Valenzuela Quispe and Artemio Gonzáles Palomino
on farmland belonging to Eladio Valenzuela Tello.
In the grave were found a used candle, a white bloodstained blanket 20
centimeters long, a brown poncho and a nylon sack with bloodstains.
All had the fetid odor of decomposing bodies.
These Articles were
ordered sent to the laboratory to be studied by experts. The second grave opened was some 10 meters from the first
grave, where witness Candelaria Palomino Ccayo said that she had found her
husband Alejandro Cchoccua Oré buried together with Hermenegildo Apare Tello.
Nothing was found in the grave, but it did have the odor of a decomposing
body. The third grave, some 300
meters from the second grave, in an area called Ccullpapacha Huaycco on a farm
belonging to Víctor Bautista, was where witnesses Ernestina Ipurre Palomino and
Martina Valenzuela said they found Solano Ccayo Noa and Dionisio Suárez
Palomino buried. Inside this third grave was a bloodstained white sheepskin, a
rag with yellowish stains and a candle 3 centimeters long.
Though there were no bodies, there was a fetid odor such as that given
off by decomposing bodies. Ernestina
said that Martina had put the sheepskin in the grave when she buried the body. It was noted that the presence of the used candle indicated
that it had been lit during the night when there was no light, and then tossed
in the grave when whatever was being done was finished and light was no longer
needed. Along the bridle path from
the second to the third grave were fragments of human skull, impregnated with
blood and hanging from a plant called ambrancay, some 70 cm off the
ground. There were also strands of
human hair. More strands of human
hair were found on the ground, as were five bullet casings, all of which were
taken to be sent to the laboratory for study.
At the fourth grave, also located in Ccachuaypampa some 400 meters from
the third grave and on the farm owned by Valeriana Ipurre, witness Maura Noa
Palomino said that she had buried the body of her son Eustaquio Oré Palomino.
When the grave was opened, the skin of a right hand was found, including
the skin of the five fingers. PIP
experts were ordered to take fingerprints from the skin.
Alongside that grave was an empty can of "Timonel" sardines,
which had been opened in an unusual way, with the edges pushed inward; inside
were the remains of its contents. There
was also a broken shovel handle, which they must have been using when the bodies
were removed from the grave, which still had the fetid odor of decomposing
bodies about it. This proceeding
was suspended and was slated to be resumed on May 30.
When the proceeding was resumed on May 30, as recorded at p. 145,
this time in the area known as Quimsahuaycco and in the company of witness Julia
Noa González, the latter pointed out a mound of earth where there had been a
grave in which the witness said Teodosio Noa Pariona and Indalecio Palomino
Tueros were found buried. Though no
corpse was found, there was a fetid odor of decomposing bodies.
Samples were taken of damp dirt for the appropriate examination by
experts. Strands of human hairs
found in the cabulla leaves were also collected.
The leaves had bloodstains on them but those stains were only on those
leaves that were on the left hand side of the road leading to Cayara.
All these items were to be sent to the laboratory to be studied.
The hairs were found where the bridle path narrows. Other materials
collected to be sent to the laboratory included a dark-brown piece of shriveled
skin and bloodstained rocks. The
army advisor stated that the bodies were the result of an encounter with the
forces of law and order and that the senderistas had most certainly taken them
there. Some 300 meters from this
grave and at another mound of dirt difficult to reach, the witness indicated
that there had been another grave where Patricio Ccayo Cahuaymi and Emilio
Berrocal Crisóstomo were found buried. No
corpse was found, but there was a black sandal and human hair, which was
collected to be sent to the laboratory for examination by experts.
3. A
proceeding conducted on May 30, at Erusco, certified copies of which appear
at pp. 172-173, and in which the Army's Legal Counsel, Peruvian Army Captain
Alonso Esquivel Cornejo, took part. In
that proceeding it was inferred that the four graves at the site were used by
military troops to bury the bodies of four senderistas who took part in the May 13
ambush on the military convoy, senderistas who were killed when the surviving
soldiers repelled the terrorist attack. No corpse was found in any of the graves, nor any odor of
decomposing bodies that would allow one to conclude that bodies had in fact been
buried there. Further, the graves
in question measured only 1.10 meters in length and 50 centimeters wide.
4. A
proceeding conducted on August 10 in Pucutuccasa, the record of which appears at
p. 318, exhumed the body of a woman identified in accordance with the provisions
of Article 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by two of her siblings, Flavia
and Justiniano García Suárez, as being the body of Jovita García Suárez.
Justiniano García Suárez also identified the body of another relative
by the name of Samuel García Palomino and an individual whom he knew by the
name of Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray. The
remains of a fourth person found in the grave were not identified.
Only the body of Jovita García Suárez was exhumed since it was
impossible to carry all of the bodies that were there.
The bodies had been buried on a mountain and there was no way to bring
back all of them that day. Once Jovita's body was removed, the skin of two hands and the
skin from the sole of a foot were taken from inside the graves.
A short distance from the grave were found two bullet shells and
bloodstained stones; a dark, bloodstained hat was taken from inside the grave,
as well as two sandals, some dirt, and small, bloodstained stones.
These were all to be sent to the laboratory for examination.
5. A
proceeding conducted on August 19, in Pucutuccasa, and recorded at p. 365;
this proceeding ascertained that the bodies left behind on August 10 had been
removed; strands of human hair, bloodstained soil samples and a piece of human
skin were collected, all to be sent to the laboratory for examination.
6. Attached
to the complainant's response, the Commission received a copy of the report
prepared by the Special Chief Prosecutor.
D. Fingerprints
have been taken:
1. From
the skin of a right hand discovered during the exhumation of the fourth grave at
Ccachuaypampa. According to
relatives of the person who had been buried there, it belonged to Eustaquio Oré
Palomino, a 17-year old student and farmer; the fingerprint cards appear at pp.
113 and 117.
2. From
two portions of skin from two hands, one right and the other left, that should
correspond to Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray and Samuel García Palomino, as
they were found inside the grave in which these two men were found during the
exhumation proceeding conducted on August 10; the fingerprint cards are at pp.
339 and 340.
E. The
following steps were taken to locate bodies:
1. On
May 20, in the Church of Cayara, certified copies of which appear at pp. 178-179;
from that proceeding it was concluded that there was no corpse in that church.
However there were bloodstains both within the church and outside of it,
bloodstains that have not been examined by experts because of negligence on the
part of the magistrates who presided over in that proceeding.
Later that day (1:00 p.m.) further inquiries were slated for Ccochua.
The magistrates never got there: as
they were on their way down, the army troops who were with them as escorts said
that they were being attacked by senderistas and would not be able to go any
further. It was so recorded.
F. Autopsies
have been conducted:
1. On
the body of Jovita García Suárez, as recorded at p. 307, on August 10; the
record shows that the individual in question was 7 months pregnant; that her
right eye was missing, that her nose was gone, and that the nasal bone was
fractured; the lower jawbone was fractured and the tongue was protruding; the
ears were normal. As for the torso,
the thorax had an open wound on the left side of the chest; the fifth and sixth
left ribs were fractured. The
radius of the left arm was fractured. The
head had been destroyed, and the skull and brain mass were gone.
Finally, the left auricle and ventricle of the heart had burst.
Pieces of heart, lung and skin were taken, in duplicate, to be examined
at the laboratories. A piece of
bone from the base of the skull was also extracted, for examination at the
laboratory.
G. The
following materials were requisitioned:
1. From
the clinical file of Eustaquio Oré Palomino at the Huancapi Health Center, as
recorded at p. 168; that clinical file appears at pp. 166‑167.
This measure was necessary in order to obtain personal data on that
individual since, being 17 years of age, he did not yet have a voter
registration card. The clinical
file showed that the young man had taken steps to register for the military
service, which served as a lead for another requisition.
2. The
military registration card of this same individual, taken from the Huancapi
Recruitment and Mobilization Office, as stated at p. 312.
The card appears at p. 313, which states that the individual in question
was born on September 22, 1970. The
file contained a fingerprint of the right forefinger.
H. Studies
have been conducted:
1. By
a fingerprint expert, No. 101-MD-SDOROP, at P. 266, consisting of a study
comparing the right thumb of the skin from the hand found in the fourth grave
exhumed at Ccachuaypampa and that the relatives of Eustaquio Oré Palomino (17
years old) said belonged to him, and of the fingerprints that appear on the
fingerprint card of RC No. 1348150, corresponding to Eustaquio Oré Palomino, 18
years of age, as recorded at p. 271. This
examination concluded that identity had not been established and since the card
at p. 271 said only that it was Eustaquio Oré Palomino, initially it was
attributed to a mistake by the undersigned prosecutor.
For that reason, the individual's documents were requisitioned in order
to be able to find some fingerprint.
2. Forensic
Report No. 3615/88, at pp. 276-277, which concludes that the skin from the
aforementioned hand is 7 to 10 days old and that post mortem changes or a damp
environment could have caused it to become detached from the rest of the arm.
Photographs of that skin appear at p. 278, as well as photographs of the
strands of hair found tangled in the ambrancay plants, and fragments of a human
frontal bone found during this exhumation on May 27.
3. Forensic
Report No. 1930-88, at p. 283, conducted on the materials found in the
exhumations of May 27, as recorded at p. 139, from the first grave, along
the path between the second and third grave, and the on-site inspection
conducted on June 12. It concludes
that most of the samples have human bloodstains, type "O," and that
the strands of hair are human hair.
4. Forensic
Report No. 4286/88, at p. 345, conducted on the piece of skull bone found on May
27, between the second and third grave exhumed, as recorded at p. 139.
The expert concludes that it is a human bone and belongs to an individual
over the age of 18.
5. Protocol
of Analysis Nº 02354, at p. 348, conducted on the contents found in the third
grave during the exhumations of May 27, and the items found along the path
between the second and third graves and in the first and second graves during
the exhumation of May 30, and the on-site inspection of June 11.
It concludes that most of the samples have human bloodstains, type
"O," RH(+) factor, and that the strands are human hair and belong to
more than one person. It also
states that the hair had been pulled out, possibly from the head.
6. Forensic
Report Nº 5228/88, at p. 378, on the pieces of heart, lung and human skin taken
from the body of Jovita García Suárez on August 10. It concludes that histologically, those samples correspond
to the parts in question but that they were decomposing because they had
not been preserved in Formol.
7. Forensic
Report Nº 5191/88, at p. 374, on a fragment of bone taken from the skull of
Jovita García Suárez on August 10. It
concludes that it is human bone from the skull (occipital) of someone who may be
an adult and who had been dead no longer than three months; the cause of death
would have been some kind of trauma.
8. Ballistics
Report Nº 2901/88, at p. 382, on the two shells found on August 10 in the
exhumation at Pucutuccasa; it concludes that they are two rifle shells, brand
"FAME," fired by the same weapon.
That weapon may have been a light automatic rifle.
9. Forensic
Report Nº 2569/88, at p. 401, on all of the material collected during the
exhumation of August 10. It
concludes that the skin is human, as is the skin from the sole of a foot
and that the strands of hair are from an individual who was either a young
person or an adult.
10. Biological
Report Nº 2493, at p. 403, on the hat and stones found during the exhumation of
August 10. It concludes that the
stains are human bloodstains, type "O," and that the strands are human
hair.
11. Biological
Forensic Report Nº 2522/88, at p. 405, on a fragment of
bone and two sandals picked up during the exhumation conducted on August 10.
The report concludes that the bone and the strands of hair are of human
origin and that the sandals show no signs of blood.
12. Fingerprint
Report Nº 138-MD-SDIRIPO, at p. 414; a fingerprint study comparing the
fingerprint that appears on the fingerprint card at p. 339, the fingerprint
(photographic enlargement) issued through note 5024-REP-DI[3 letters illegible]
at p. 391, and the fingerprint stamped on the Voter Registration card
issued to the name of Daniel Samuel García Palomino. Its finding is that a full papillary identification cannot be
made. Though the three are of a bideltic typology, there are
characteristic papillary points missing that make a full identification
impossible. This is because samples
2 and 3 are not as clear as the first sample.
13. Fingerprint
Report Nº 137-MD-SDIRIPO, at p. 421; a fingerprint study that compares the
impression that appears on the military registration card, a copy of which
appears at p. 314, and the fingerprints on the fingerprint card RC Nº 1348150,
which is in the files of the SDIRIPO. The
comparison made of the first of these and the fingerprints made from the hand
skin found when the fourth grave at Ccechua was exhumed on May 27 concluded
that the fingerprint that appears on the Military Registration card is not a
fingerprint at all, but rather a blue stain (ink smudge).
For purposes of the law, however, the fingerprints shown on the military
registration card and the fingerprint card RC Nº 1348150 are the same.
14. Anatomical-Pathological
Study Nº 200-88, at p. 430, on the pieces of lung, heart and skin taken from
the body of Jovita García Suárez during the autopsy conducted on August 10.
This study concludes that the samples are pieces of skin, heart and lung,
and that death occurred more than two months previous to the date of the study.
I. Background information
has been requested:
1. An official letter was
sent to the Registrar of Police Records requesting the files on Jovita García
Suárez, Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray and Samuel García Palomino.
The response appears at p. 350, and states that there is no police record
on file.
J. Information
has been requested from the Voter Registration Office.
1. An
official letter was sent to the Voter Registration Office at Ayacucho, answered
with Letter No. 405-88/REPH, at p. 389, reporting that Jovita García Suárez,
Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray and Samuel García Palomino are not registered in
Ayacucho.
2. A
letter was sent to the Office of the Deputy Director of Police Identifications --
DILLE -- of the Lima Voter Registration Office. The reply -- Note No. 5024-REP-DILLE, at p. 391 -- states
that both Jovita García Suárez and Daniel Samuel García Palomino are
registered but not Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray.
Photocopies of the registration cards and an enlarged photograph of the
fingerprint that appears on each card were also sent.
K. Other
important inquiries:
1. The
townspeople of Erusco presented a report to my office, which appears at p. 354.
It bears the signatures and fingerprints of 19 of them.
The report states that members of the army in Cayara have tried to get
them to state and sign a document wherein they assert that Jovita García Suárez
had been taken by senderistas. The
only one to sign this document, and under great duress, was the President of
Civil Defense. This had to be done
within the military base at Cayara, because it was not true.
The individual in question had been taken into custody by army troopers.
2. Since
a return trip had to be made to Cayara to continue going through the list of
those shown to be missing, a letter was sent to the Commandant of the FAP-HO
group at Ayacucho, asking that he help us get to the area by helicopter.
The reply we received was Of. 018, dated October 5, which appears at p.
442. It states that in order to use
the helicopter, permission must be requested directly from the Chief of the
Military Political Command of Ayacucho, in other words, Peruvian Army General
Luis Valdivia Dueñas, to whom that Commandant was answerable.
From that one can infer that helicopters in Ayacucho do not take off
without the authorization of or an order from that General.
3. During
this investigation, a statement was taken from Benedicta María Valenzuela Ccayo,
Maura Palomino de Oré and Antonia Ccayo Quispe de García, all of whom have
identified one of the material authors of the events under investigation as
being the officer whose photograph appears at p. 408.
He had been wearing a ski mask but his red hair and somewhat ruddy white
skin were visible, as were his eyes and nose.
It should be noted that the photograph in question was taken when the
undersigned went to Cayara for the first time on May 21 and there found the
individual in question intimidating the witnesses who were to make statements.
Fernandina Palomino Quispe, Indalecio Palomino de la Cruz and Justiniano
Tinco García also made statements to the effect that army troops had robbed
their stores of Articles valued at approximately I/10,000, I/10,000 and
I/20,000, respectively, and that the theft occurred during the events that began
on May 14. Justiano Tinco García also said that the soldiers took the
following from the premises of the Town Council: a large Seiko clock, a stapler,
brand name "Famosa," two new sports outfits and a winch 20 meters
long.
Furthermore, as to the charges concerning the alleged violation of Martha
Crisóstomo García and Petronila Chipana Tarqui, a statement was taken from the
former wherein she denied having been raped by army troopers; the second has not
been located thus far.
4. During
the course of this investigation, lists have been submitted of persons either
dead or disappeared as a consequence of the actions attributed to the army
troops; lists of that kind were presented by APRODEH, at p. 3 and 239; by the
Mayor of Hyamanga, at p. 15, through a Public Communiqué that he ordered be
printed at the time he made his statement; by Deputy Agustín Haya de la Torre,
at p. 50, with the complaints that appear at pp. 59 and 65; by the Embassy of
Finland, at p. 298; by Senator Javier Diez Canseco, at p. 205; by Amnesty
International, at p. 242; and by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances of the United Nations, at p. 300. These lists have been taken into account during each of the
visits made to Cayara, striking off the names of anyone who has been located and
identified. From all of this, the
following persons have yet to be located and are detained-disappeared:
Ciciliano
Bautista Ipurre
The following two names should also be added to this list
Magdaleno Gutiérrez Huamán
Witnesses numbers 17 and 28 have made statements to the effect that they
saw Magdaleno Gutiérrez Huamán wounded after the events that occurred on May
14 and both were seen alive until May 16 when army troopers took them from the
home of Segundina Marcatoma Suárez.
Also listed as detained-disappeared are the following:
Gregorio Ipurre Ramos
According to relatives, these four were taken into custody on June 30 by
members of the army in Cayara. Gregorio
Ipurre Ramos had been a witness in this investigation.
He and Guzmán Bautista Palomino were both on the list that General
Valdivia Dueñas had on May 18 at Cayara, branding them terrorists and saying
that the Army was looking for them. My
office has instituted investigations Nos. 476 and 477 in connection with these
four people even though their disappearance was reported well after the events
that are the subject of this investigation.
5. When
Victoriana Meza Cabrera made her statement, she made reference to another
investigation conducted in 1986 by the Public Prosecutor's Office, involving
events that apparently were also attributed to members of the army.
An investigation was requested in that case as well.
It shows that the events occurred in Huancapi, a place approximately one
and a half hour by car from Cayara. Some
people from the Cayara district were listed among the aggrieved parties in that
incident as well. There again, army
troops were allegedly responsible. This
investigation has been at a standstill since June 1, 1987, with the First Chief
Prosecutor's Office of Ayacucho. The
latter ordered the Provincial Prosecutor of Víctor Fajardo to take steps to
enlarge the investigations, without result thus far.
6. When
Martha Crisóstomo García expanded her original testimony, she included a
report that appears at p. 187. There
she mentions the number of people who were living in Cayara on May 5 of this
year. In all there were 2,530
adults and children. She noted that
Cayara is a district of the Province of Fajardo in the Department of Ayacucho
and is 147 kms south of Huamanga. To
go from Huamanga to Cayara by car the trip is as follows: 3 hours as far as
Cangallo, an hour from there to Huancapi, and an hour and a half from Huancapi
to Cayara. To go from Cayara to
Ccechua, one has to follow a bridle path that goes downhill for an hour and a
half; the return trip on foot takes approximately 3 hours.
The path from Cayara to Quicsa Huaycco is about an hour's walk, both
going and coming; by helicopter the trip from Huamanga to Cayara takes
approximately 20 minutes. It should
also be noted that agriculture is the mainstay of the region's population and at
the time the events under investigation occurred, it was harvest season.
The farm fields are in Ccechua.
III. From all this one can
conclude that:
A. On
May 13, 1988, at approximately 9:00 p.m., terrorists ambushed two army vehicles
and their occupants; they blew up one of the vehicles on the road at Erusco.
An exchange of fire between the terrorists and the army troops followed,
lasting approximately 45 minutes. The
incident left one army captain, José Joaquín
Arbulú Sime, one sergeant and two corporals dead.
B. On
May 14, 1988, in response to the ambush, Army troops from the Huancapi, Huaya
and "Linces" bases, transported by helicopter, entered the town of
Cayara at around 9:00 a.m. and closed off the highway access to the town.
C. Approximately
80 army troopers proceeded to assemble the men who were at the church
celebrating the festival of the Virgin of Fatima in the town of Cayara.
They had killed Mr. Esteban Asto Bautista as they were coming into town,
and then killed Patricio Ccayo Cahuaymi, Emilio Berrocal Crisóstomo, Indalecio
Palomino Tueros, Santiago Tello Crisóstomo and Hermenegildo Apari Tello inside
the aforementioned church. Other
troops proceeded to break down the doors of the houses, to loot stores and
homes, arrest Marcial Crisóstomo de la Cruz, whom they used as a guide for a
house-to-house search of people from the district whom they were seeking; and
they burned the homes of Gregorio Ipurre Ramos and Dionisio Suárez Palomino.
D. That
between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. that day, between 80 and 100 army troopers descended
upon the place called Ccechua. There,
at a spot called Ccachuaypampa, they assembled all of the people from the
district who were returning from their harvests; they separated the men from the
women. The women were ordered to
sit down with the children to one side, while the men were forced to lie face
down. The soldiers then put cactus
leaves on their backs, which they cut from a nearby grove; the soldiers, armed
with axes, sickles, machetes, and other implements, proceeded to kill the men
from the district, one by one, under a nearby molle tree, while other
soldiers scattered the women and children.
They did not allow them to return until May 16, at which point members of
the family began to bury the bodies of their loved ones.
Twenty people were killed at this spot.
E. On
the morning of May 18, 1988, a helicopter arrived in Cayara with General José
Valdivia Dueñas on board. He
assembled the people at the heliport, where he read off a list, calling out,
among other names, those of Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray, Samuel García
Palomino, Gregorio Ipurre Ramos and Guzmán Bautista Palomino, saying that they
were terrorists and that they were being sought.
F. That
same day, May 18, toward the end of the afternoon, an Army patrol of
approximately 20 men entered Erusco and assembled all of the townspeople.
They then took into custody Jovita García Suárez and Alejandro
Echaccaya Villagaray; the next day they took Samuel García Palomino.
They held the three until May 20, inside the Erusco school.
That afternoon they took the three away, headed in the direction of the
mountain at Erusco.
G. Thirty
days following their detention, relatives of the two men taken into custody
reached Pucutuccasa, where they found the bodies of the three people in a grave.
On August 10, those bodies were fully identified in an exhumation
proceeding. The only body removed
at that time was Jovita García Suárez; the other two and the remains of a
fourth unidentified body were left behind.
When an autopsy was done on the body of Jovita García Suárez, it was
established that she had been brutally tortured before being killed; among other
things her skull had been completely blown away.
Alongside the grave where she was found were two bullet shells, the kind
of bullets used by light automatic rifles, the weapon used by soldiers of the
Peruvian Army.
The conclusion from all of this is that: there is sufficient evidence to
be able to bring a formal indictment before the Lower Court Judge of Cangallo,
this being his jurisdiction. The
charges would be as follows: homicide
with extreme cruelty, provided for and punishable under Article 152 of the Penal
Code, amended by Decree Law 18968, against the person of Jovita García Suárez;
homicide, provided for and punishable under Article 150 of the Penal Code,
against the person of Alejandro Echaccaya Villagaray and Samuel García
Palomino; crimes against individual liberty, provided for and punishable under
Article 340 of the Penal Code and committed against each and every one of the
individuals listed in this report as disappeared, including those listed as dead
in Cayara and Ccechua, until their bodies are discovered, whereupon the charge
can be expanded to include homicide; robbery, provided for and punishable under
Article 238 of the Penal Code, against the people listed under point II.b of
this report; damages and injuries, provided for and punishable under Article 259
of the Penal Code, against the persons of Gregorio Ipurre Ramos and Lucilla
Tello de Suárez, also listed under Point II.b of this Report; against the
administration of justice, provided for and punishable under Article 332 of the
Penal Code and, presuming the responsibility of the Chief of the
Political‑Military Command of the SZSNC‑5 of Ayacucho, Peruvian Army
General José Valdivia Dueñas, this under the provisions of Article 100 of the
Penal Code, as amended by law 12341, since the events under investigation point
to the commission of an on‑going crime that began on March 14, 1988,
and ended between April 20 and 21 with the death of three people from the
district, discovered at Pucutuccasa. The
material authors of this crime executed an order, while the intellectual authors
deliberately induced others to the commission of the crimes; this Prosecutor
further concludes that there is sufficient evidence to indict the General in
question. During the course of the
preliminary investigation, said General should indicate and identify who
executed his orders in the commission of these crimes.
As for the crime of rape, also under investigation here, one of the
possible aggrieved parties has said that she was not raped, while the other has
not been located.
This, Mr. Chief Criminal Prosecutor, is all I have to report.
Respectfully,
Dr. Carlos Enrique Escobar Pineda
8. The
Commission has taken cognizance of resolution 45/90, of January 18, 1990,
whereby the Provincial Prosecutor for Huamanga decided that the proceedings were
to be filed temporarily, though the investigation, which had come up with
nothing so far, could be reopened. (This
Resolution is transcribed as part of the Senate Commission Report (see point
11.)
9. With
respect to the substance of the case in the Cayara incidents, the Government of
Peru sent a note dated May 8, 1990, attaching a copy of Official Communication
45 P‑CSJM, dated February 1, 1990, "sent by the Chairman of the
Supreme Council of Military Justice to the Minister of Defense, reporting that
on May 12, 1989, the Second Judicial Zone of the Army had resolved to
discontinue judicial proceedings in the case in question, and on January 31,
1990, the Supreme Council of Military Justice upheld that decision."
10. Two days
later, in a communication dated May 10, 1990, the Government added information,
as follows:
It should be noted that three separate inquiries were instituted in
connection with the Cayara case:
- The proceeding under the
Military Code concluded on January 31, 1990, when the Supreme Council
of Military Justice upheld the decision of the Army's Second Judicial
Jurisdiction to discontinue proceedings; I enclosed a copy of that decision with
my note No. 7-5-M/081.
- On the other hand, the
inquiries conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation were
carried out by stages:
The first was entrusted to the Chief Prosecutor, Don Carlos Enrique
Escobar Pineda. That inquiry
concluded on October 13, 1988, when said Prosecutor filed his report and there
indicated that in his judgment there were grounds for filing criminal charges
with the proper tribunal against the alleged guilty party, whom he indicated was
the Political Head of the Ayacucho Emergency Zone.
- The Office of the Attorney
General of the Nation gave orders that the investigations conducted by
Prosecutor Escobar were to be expanded and to that end designated Provincial
Prosecutor Jesús Granda, who concluded his assignment stating that there were
no grounds for bringing the corresponding criminal charges and that the case
should be temporarily archived. On
August 29, 1989, the Attorney General of the Nation decided to revoke this last
decision by Provincial Prosecutor Jesús Granda and to open up the inquiries
even further. This time they were in the hands of Provincial Prosecutor Rubén
Vega, who on May 24, 1990, decided not to bring any criminal charges and to
archive the case once and for all.
There was heavy press coverage of the alleged violation of human rights
in Cayara. Out of a genuine
political resolve to conduct a thorough investigation of the events, on May 17,
1988, the Senate of the Republic designated a fact-finding commission consisting
of seven senators representing a variety of political parties.
The majority report of that Commission found that there were no grounds
for bringing criminal charges. The Commission's conclusions are enclosed as
information for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
It should be noted that the Senate Investigating Commission did not reach
a consensus, and two other minority reports were written.
I will be happy to forward those two reports to the IACHR as soon as
possible.
Since it might also be helpful for purposes of an objective analysis of
the events in Cayara, I am enclosing the Report on those and subsequent events,
dated November 18, 1988, and presented by Peruvian Army General José Valdivia
Dueñas, Political-Military Chief of Ayacucho, to the Cangallo Provincial
Prosecutor, Jesús Granda. Also
included is a document that, on the occasion of a meeting called on May 22,
1988, by the authorities of the Cayara District and the Commander General for
the Emergency Zone, was signed by those alleged to have died in Cayara on May
14, 1988.
The IACHR has surely seen the news reports circulated by the
international press in connection with the events in Cayara, reports that make
reference to alleged bombings and pillaging that left one hundred dead. This illustrates that this was an attempt to create a news
spectacle calculated to discredit the Peruvian Army, which has been combating
terrorism as part of a difficult mission to bring peace to the zone under its
responsibility.
It is a well known fact that Peru has been waging an enormous effort
nationwide against the senseless violence of terrorism, whose cost in human
lives and property has seriously hurt our society, the country's development and
has threatened the Peruvian democratic process that has been asserting itself in
the Republic since 1980.
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